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Migrant workers agree to return to work in Dubai

The Burj Dubai seen from the air on Sept. 7. PHOTO: AFP

Migrant workers building the world's tallest building in Dubai have agreed to return to work, their employers, construction giant Arabtec, said on Saturday.

"All employees of Arabtec Construction Co LLC have ended their strike action following an agreement with the management," the firm's executive chairman Riad Kamal said in a statement carried by the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) official WAM news agency.

The deal followed a series of talks with worker representatives involving labor ministry officials, bosses' organizations and the Dubai police, the statement said.

It is not the first time that the authorities have hailed an end to the industrial action and there was no immediate word from leaders of the strike among Arabtec's 34,000 workers.

On Nov. 1, the labor ministry hailed an end to the action following a site visit involving officials from the labor ministry and the Dubai police as well as an Indian consular representative.

But on Wednesday, Arabtec acknowledged that just 1,500 of its staff had returned to work.

Burj Dubai, which overtook Taipei 101 tower as the world's tallest building when it reached 512m in June, is just one of the construction projects in which Arabtec is involved.

Construction of the skyscraper by a consortium involving Arabtec, Samsung of South Korea and Besix of Belgium is not yet complete and its final height is a secret.

Dubai is in the midst of a massive construction boom as it seeks to position itself as a business and leisure hub in the face of dwindling oil wealth.

An estimated 700,000 Asians, mostly from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, work as construction workers in the UAE, where only about 20 percent of the 4 million population have citizenship.

Although strike action is outlawed and trade unions are illegal, but thousands of migrant workers downed tools in a rash of strikes in Dubai late last month.

Arabtec staff, who are paid an average of 700 dirhams (US$190) a month, have been demanding an increase of 500 dirhams as well as improvements in hotel accommodation and transport to and from their workplaces.

Burj Dubai is no stranger to industrial action. In March last year, 2,500 laborers rioted at the construction site.

The incident prompted Human Rights Watch to issue a statement calling on the UAE government to "end abusive labor practices" and describing working conditions as "less than human."

Last November, Dubai's emir, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, who is also UAE vice president and prime minister, ordered sweeping measures to improve the working conditions of migrant laborers.

Facing new industrial action, the authorities have issued a series of warnings to employers to ensure that last year's decree is enforced.
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